Home Sweet Home Ch. 01

"To Whitney. There you go," he said, then returned the pen to the server. "Thank you."

"Honey, could you give Mr. Blake and I a moment?" Diana asked, and Whitney looked at her, almost defiant her mother was asking her to leave. "You can talk after we're done, if of course he is willing to."

"You can ask me anything you want when we're done," Riley said, and Whitney was now more pliable.

"Okay," Whitney said, sliding off the seat while dragging her bag. "Can I get a picture too?"

"Absolutely," Riley said, and posed for a selfie that would be on Instagram in seconds.

"Thank you, let me know when you're done," Whitney said, then sat at the bar directly across from them. One look from her mother told her to go further away.

"That was cheap," Riley said with a grin that made Diana laugh a little. She had a sense he would be a remarkably good sport about it. It also helped disarm him a little.

"Thank you for humoring her. You legitimately might have made her year," Diana said. "What are you having?"

"What do you recommend?" Riley asked, then stole a sip from Whitney's water.

"I get steak and eggs," Diana said. A moment later the server returned, and he ordered the same.

"Why am I here chief?" Riley asked.

"I'm not the chief right now. I'm not in uniform, and I'm with my daughter. I'm just Diana right now. My friends call me Dee," she said.

"Why am I here, Diana," Riley said.

"I made presumptions," Diana started, then took a sip. She placed her cup further away to stress the conversation beginning. "And I apologize for that. I see a wealthy guy with an expensive lawyer, and I think you're an entitled asshole who is used to getting his way."

"You don't see that anymore?" Riley asked, and she shook her head. "I saw a cop who will always take the side of her officers, regardless of the circumstances of the event. Am I wrong?"

"My officers fucked up," she said, and Riley watched his coffee be set in front of him. "But let me contextualize that. Joey Ballard is a good cop, who has seen his fair share of domestic disputes. He's seen a lot of women with black eyes, and kids who suffer a lot of accidents. He assumed too much, I agree. I will not say he shouldn't have removed you, but he should have removed you both until it was sorted out. What he did was objectively wrong, but not without experience or merit.

"He will be reprimanded. But I will not fire a good officer," Diana said. Riley absorbed her words for a moment, nodding slowly. Diana knew from Riley's past that a no-nonsense, direct way of speaking, was likely the most effective means of communication with him.

"Heard, and accepted," Riley said. "What about your detective?"

"Like I said, public employees are hard to fire. He has twenty years under his belt. I can't fire him easily, but I can highly encourage he retire. City council already seems to like that option. Regardless, he won't be employed with us. Is that satisfactory?"

Riley dug his phone out of his pocket and pressed the star in his contacts for favorite numbers. He pressed one and waited for someone to answer on the other end.

"Mike, it's me. The lawsuit, we're dropping it," Riley said, and Diana held back her reaction. "You're getting paid regardless, stop your bitching." Diana could not hold back her laugh. Riley hung up the phone and placed it next to his cup.

"Thank you, Mr. Blake," Diana said.

"My friends call me Riley. May I call you Dee?" he asked.

"Of course," Diana said, then gestured that Whitney could return to the table.

"I have like, a million questions," Whitney said before she even sat down. Diana scooted over a foot to make room for her. "Why can't Fractured be exorcists? Is it because they can't swear on a soul that isn't their own?"

Riley said what he could, considering his publisher had given him a list of things he couldn't spoil. But he did his best to answer the young woman's questions.